CLARK FREEPORT—San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto has denied reports that Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio has already applied to leave the priesthood to be able to pursue a reelection bid or run for a national position through the May 2010 elections.
“Among (Father) Ed has not yet filed a request for dispensation,” Aniceto told Punto Central Luzon before he led the invocation in Monday’s awarding rites by the Clark Development Corp. on 16 outstanding partners and investors.
“The reports that he’s leaving the priesthood are not true,” Aniceto said.
The archbishop suspended the priestly duties of Panlilio in March 2007 when he ran for governor that year on the platform of being a moral alternative to two allies of President Macapagal-Arroyo.
He was a priest for 28 years, mostly spent in rural villages and social action ministry, before he agreed to the clamors of concerned Kapampangans to contest the candidacies of Gov. Mark Lapid and Board Member Lilia Pineda.
Panlilio on Tuesday said he has not submitted an application for dispensation.
“My preference is to return to active priesthood. There are clamors in the good governance crusades for me to run for a second term or higher positions including the presidency so I’m still discerning,” he explained.
Aniceto said the option of Panlilio to leave the priesthood will be evident close to or in November, the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy.
“I want him to return,” the 72-year-old prelate said, adding he did not want Panlilio to “disobey” him twice. The first disobedience was in 2007 when he entered politics, he said.
The archbishop said he has reminded Panlilio of their agreement that he would “only be lent” to the laity for “three years.”
“Three years is enough. He should be back. He’s a good priest,” he said.
According to him, the dispensation process is long. Panlilio will have to file the application to his local, Aniceto, who in turn will forward it to the Papal Nuncio in the Philippines. The latter submits the application to the Congregation of Bishops before it reaches Pope Benedict XV1.
Panlilio, 55, is so far the only priest in the country holding an elective office. His entry in politics raised a prickly issue: the separation of church and state.
“Among (Father) Ed has not yet filed a request for dispensation,” Aniceto told Punto Central Luzon before he led the invocation in Monday’s awarding rites by the Clark Development Corp. on 16 outstanding partners and investors.
“The reports that he’s leaving the priesthood are not true,” Aniceto said.
The archbishop suspended the priestly duties of Panlilio in March 2007 when he ran for governor that year on the platform of being a moral alternative to two allies of President Macapagal-Arroyo.
He was a priest for 28 years, mostly spent in rural villages and social action ministry, before he agreed to the clamors of concerned Kapampangans to contest the candidacies of Gov. Mark Lapid and Board Member Lilia Pineda.
Panlilio on Tuesday said he has not submitted an application for dispensation.
“My preference is to return to active priesthood. There are clamors in the good governance crusades for me to run for a second term or higher positions including the presidency so I’m still discerning,” he explained.
Aniceto said the option of Panlilio to leave the priesthood will be evident close to or in November, the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy.
“I want him to return,” the 72-year-old prelate said, adding he did not want Panlilio to “disobey” him twice. The first disobedience was in 2007 when he entered politics, he said.
The archbishop said he has reminded Panlilio of their agreement that he would “only be lent” to the laity for “three years.”
“Three years is enough. He should be back. He’s a good priest,” he said.
According to him, the dispensation process is long. Panlilio will have to file the application to his local, Aniceto, who in turn will forward it to the Papal Nuncio in the Philippines. The latter submits the application to the Congregation of Bishops before it reaches Pope Benedict XV1.
Panlilio, 55, is so far the only priest in the country holding an elective office. His entry in politics raised a prickly issue: the separation of church and state.
